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Ch. 7 Three Waves of Variation Studies

Goals

Various 3rd Wave Studies

Labov (1966, 1972b)

Milroy (1978) & Milroy (1980, 1987a)

http://www.dialectsarchive.com/new-york-7

Linguistic Variable:

"r" (and [θ])

Location:

Kiesling (2009)

Linguistic Variable:

8 phonological variables

http://www.dialectsarchive.com/northern-ireland-3

New York City, specifically Saks, Macy's and S. Klein department stores

1. Characterize the evolution of variation studies.

  • stance: "how interlocutors position themselves with regard to each other" (pg. 190)

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Location:

Participants:

2. Critically analyze the methods employed therein.

Participants:

personnel/people encountered in the stores (n=68, n=125 and n=71, respectively)

Podesva (2004, 2007)

46 men and women in Ballymacarrett, Hammer and Clonard; 6 point participation network scale

3. Summarize the basic findings of canonical studies.

Methodology:

informal question and request for clarification

Methodology:

  • "Heath": uses some features of his speech "to position himself as someone who cares about fashion and grooming", but also a "competent and educated medical student" (pg. 109)

modified participant-observer technique (i.e. "friend-of-a-friend")

Findings:

use of the standard [θ] increased as formality increased (casual speech--careful speech--reading style--word lists) (Figure 7.3, p. 172); similar behavior evidenced across socio-economic classes (SEC) (Figure 7.3, p. 172)

both forms used in each location, though substantially less in S. Klein (Table 7.1, p. 172); in general more standard forms obtained in the request for clarification (Figure 7.3, p. 173); reduced form more prevalent before a C(onsonant) (Figure 7.3, p. 173); in Saks, older people used more reduced forms, but in Macy's they used less; hypercorrection by lower middle class (Figure 7.4, p. 174)

Findings:

significant correlations with strong networks were found for the linguistic variables examined in Ballymacarrett; men in Ballymacarrett used more vernacular language than women

Goodwin & Alim (2010)

  • use of speech and non-verbal stylizations (gestures) to construct and maintain identity

Importance:

demonstrated (1) hypercorrection by lower-middle class and (2) regularity of patterns of pronunciation according to SEC

Importance:

examined the impact of local social networks and kinship ties

Various 2nd Wave Studies

Controversies (?)

Fischer (1958)

Wolfram & Fashold (1974)

1st, 2nd, and 3rd Waves

Constraints (pg. 181-182):

Cheshire (1978)

deletion of final stops in clusters (e.g. [d])

Linguistic Variable:

Linguistic Variable:

[ŋ]

1. What are the main differences between the 3 types of variation studies examined?

http://www.dialectsarchive.com/massachusetts-9

  • first-order: a constraint that is (a) applied first and (b) has a larger effect on the linguistic variable
  • second-order: a constraint that is (a) applied after the first-order constraint and (b) has secondary effects

Washington, D.C.

Location:

  • addition of 3sg. verbal morphology in boys and girls in Reading, England
  • syntactic and lexical constraints found again
  • [s] added when followed by a clause with an infinitive (I just lets her beat me, p. 187)
  • more informal verbs take [s] more frequently
  • social factors also found
  • the more "tough" a participant, the more [s] was added

New England

Location:

African Americans

Participants:

1st wave:"establish correlations between predetermined macro-level social categories and particular linguistic variables" (p. 170)

Participants:

boys (n=12) and girls (n=12) 3-10 years of age

Methodology:

recorded speech

Sub-groups:

Keisling (1998):

2nd wave:"focus on speaker agency"; vernacular speech remains central; "explain the variation using ethnographically determined social categories and cultural norms" (p. 185)

'model' boy (n=1) and 'typical' boy (n=1)

Findings:

  • groups within groups may display different orderings of constraints (Labov 1972b)
  • use of [ŋ] among fraternity members showed effects of desired use (identity) and formality
  • [n] was used in social settings; [ŋ] was used more in formal settings (e.g. meetings)
  • [n] was seen as characteristic of "hardwork", "practicality", "freedom", "power"

the phonological environment of the variable of interest affects the variable realized (Table 7.3, p. 181); dovetail with the findings of Wolfram (1969) which examined morphological- and syntactic-based clusters (burned up vs. cold out)

interviews; two formal and one informal

Methodology:

Bailey (1973) and Bickerton (1971):

3rd wave: "how linguistic practices are the means through which speakers position themselves as social beings" (p. 189); "focus on speaker agency" (p. 192)

Eckert (1989, 2000)

Findings:

the most formal interview favored the non-reduced form (Figure 7.2, p. 171); the 'model' boy showed a clear preference for the non-reduced form while the 'typical' boy showed no strong preference; hypothesized effect of so-called everyday activity verbs; boys used more reduced forms than girls

  • each person has their own isolect that falls on a continuum with an implicational relationship with the linguistic variables
  • jocks or burnouts in "Belton High'
  • took into account not only the speech of participants, but also their access to ability to accumulate symbolic capital via their actions and pastimes
  • girls supposedly had less access than boys

Importance:

linguistic variables were found to interact with social variables

2. What common components remain from one wave to the next?

Importance:

one of the earliest variation studies; hinted at variation as a function of lexical differences (pg. 171; demonstrated gender differences (pg. 172)

Trudgill (1974, 1986)

THANK YOU!

Linguistic Variable:

[ŋ], [tʰ], [h] i.a.

http://www.dialectsarchive.com/england-11

Norwich, England

Location:

Participants:

lower/middle/upper working class to lower/middle middle class men and women (n=10 per SEC)

Methodology:

word list, reading, formal and casual speech

Findings:

the [ŋ] variable is related to class (Figure 7.5, p. 176) and gender (Table 7.2, p. 177): the higher the class, the more use of the standard form; females use more standard forms)

Importance:

Trudgill found convergent accommodation in his speech; demonstrated (1)"hypercorrection" by lower-middle class and (2) regularity of patterns of pronunciation according to SEC

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